Men’s tennis begins new season in California with new, young team
By Savannah Pullin
Reporter
Baylor’s fifth-ranked men’s tennis team got to enjoy some sunny weather last week when they headed to Southern California to participate in the 2012 Sherwood Collegiate Cup at the Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
The tournament, which began on Friday and ran through Monday, included six Baylor Bears combined with 26 players from USC, Stanford, and UCLA.
Head coach Matt Knoll holds a roster complete with five freshmen this season, the youngest roster he has ever coached. Naturally, this may cause skepticism about what this team can accomplish.
“It’s been fun for me, and I think it’s perked everybody up and got everybody excited,” Knoll said in a press release.
He even goes on to describe the youngsters as “athletic” and “gym rats.”
The rookies, however, did prove to house the potential Knoll had anticipated. Freshmen Lars Behlen and Marko Krickovic, along with junior Roberto Maytin all swept their round of 32 matches in straight sets.
Unfortunately, all three players lost to higher ranked or higher seeded players in the round of 16 play.
On Saturday, the doubles team consisting of senior Kike Grangeiro and freshman Matt Zsiga beat out a USC duo in the quarterfinals, preventing the Trojans from carrying four teams into the semifinals.
The next day, the duo fell in the main draw doubles semifinals to USC’s second-seeded Yannick Hanfmann and Steve Johnson, 8-2.
Grangeiro advanced to play in the singles consolation bracket after losing in the main draw first-round. After making his way through to the semifinals, he lost to UCLA’s Marcus Giron, 6-4, 6-3.
Other than Grangeiro, the other Bears left in play were Behlen, Krickovic, and Zsiga. These freshmen all won their Sunday backdraw matches in straight sets.
Women’s tennis debuts new player in California
By Tyler Alley
Sports Editor
No. 6 Baylor women’s tennis sent one player, freshman Ema Burgic, to the National Collegiate Tennis Classic in La Quinta, Calif.
Burgic went 1-3 for the weekend. Her one win came against Carlene Layden of Texas, whom she beat 6-0, 6-1 for her first career victory in a Baylor uniform.
Burgic faced two more Longhorn opponents, losing to Cierra Gaytan-Leach 6-3, 6-4 and Elizabeth Begley 7-5, 6-2.
